The present invention generally relates to a cage nut assembly, and more specifically relates to a cage nut assembly which is configured such that it meets torque requirements while having a relatively thin wall thickness.
Cage nut assemblies are well known in the art and provide a useful function in that they are able to hold a threaded nut at locations in a frame that are difficult or in some cases impossible to reach. Cage nut assemblies are used in vehicles for seat attachments, radiator attachments, chassis to drive train attachments, and for any other nut application that requires the nut to have an xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d axis adjustability.
Currently, the thickness of the cage in these cage nut assemblies is determined by the amount of torque that the part can handle as the cage is not a continuous 360 degree connection, meaning that there is a seam/gap in the cage. Thus, to prevent the gap from expanding, the cage must have a material thickness which can take the full force of the torque. If sufficient thickness is not used, during driving torque, the nut will push out the side walls of the cage (thereby causing the seam to expand) until the nut is free to spin, stopping the nut bolt assembly. Thus, cage nut assemblies generally have cage walls which are excessively thick, for instance, a thickness of 2.0 millimeters at a minimum, in order to meet torque requirements.
It would be advantageous to make a cage nut assembly which can accommodate the required torque with a relatively thin cage wall. It would also be advantageous to make a cage nut assembly which can be utilized in any desired application which requires an xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d axis adjustability.
A primary object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a cage nut assembly that has a relatively thin wall thickness, but which meets torque requirements in a desired application.
Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a cage nut assembly which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture but which meets torque requirements in a desired application.
Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a cage nut assembly which can be utilized in any nut application that requires the nut to have an xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d axis adjustability.
Briefly, and in accordance with the foregoing, embodiments of the present invention provide a cage member for a cage nut assembly. The cage member has protrusions stamped into the cage member material. At least one of the protrusions is formed in halves. These halves are stamped at the edge of the material exactly opposite of a mating half on the other side. When the cage member is wrapped around to its final position, the two halves butt up against each other to mimic a full protrusion. The other protrusions are not placed on the cage seam. A nut is in the cage member when the final cage member bending operation butts the two cage edges against each other.
A cage member which is in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention can take many forms. For example, the cage member may have flanges on the end thereof which allow access to a nut encaged within the cage member and to allow positioning of the nut after welding of the cage member to the mating surface. The cage member may wrap around and join together with a dove-tail interlocking system. The cage member may provide that the protrusion is not split into halves but rather is off-set such that the protrusion is designed to interface with the wall of the cage member during the welding process.